On Wings
by ch4ppy-py0n
Summary: moving into a new house has lost its falir, but the sudden appearance of a very odd bat helps to bring that exitement back to Roxas. Mayhem inevitebly ensues! AU Vamp!fic AkuRoku with a dash of LeonxCloud and a sideorder of SoRiku :D
1. Chapter 1

CH.1_Unpacking and unsuspecting

_WARNING...THIS FANFIC IS YAOI, WHICH MEANS BOYxBOY! DON'T LIKE? DONT READ! Though I would like to know how you got here._

_KEY: "speech" and 'thoughts' and *flashbacks*_

_---_

_Cough, cough!_

"Ugh... I can't believe it's like this." He muttered, wiping a smudge of black...something or other from his cheek. He picked up another box and slammed it on top of a rickety old table next to the wall. A large cloud of dust erupted from the surfaces of both items, momentarily blinding the boy, causing him to stagger backwards. He sighed as he checked his reflection in an antique mirror "Again? Can this place get any filthier?" he whined, rubbing his face to clear the thin mask of probably prehistoric dirt. To no avail. His hands were even worse than his face and he had already used his sleeves multiple times. "Ha ha, cloud is gonna be so pissed when he sees this." He shoved his sleeves up his arms so that they didn't hinder the clearing he was doing. Dozens of old and crumpled boxes littered the floor before him and they all needed to be moved so that their own things could fit in their place.

"Roxas! I'm going out to the store to get some food! The fridge only has the bare minimum!" Roxas's older brother called up the stairs of the attic that the younger currently occupied. "You think you'll be okay while I'm gone? You have my cellpho--"

"I'll be FINE!" he shouted down the ladders, his face appearing for a brief moment. A frown was painted onto his blackened features. "It's not like we haven't done this before." Cloud rolled his eyes and turned away.

"Okay, I get it. I'm going, I'm going..." the fading sound of footsteps could be heard and they echoed around the almost empty house. That's right. The house was new, as well as the town surrounding it, and so was the county surrounding the town. Roxas knew no-one in this town but supposedly, that was why they had moved anywhere. Cloud had gotten into a bit of bother in the last city they lived in, and well... here they were. New home in the middle of some secluded place going by the name of Twilight Town.

Groaning as he pulled his full weight back to his feet, he trudged back to the task at hand. A hand rose to wipe his face, only to pause when he realized the effort was futile. Roxas shook his head which made his once golden, now a murky brown spikes sway. "Right! Back to work."

About forty-five minutes later Roxas had successfully cleared all the boxes to the walls of the attic. He sat back and rested his weight on his arms. His head tilted back, eyes closed and breath heavy. The last few boxes were surprisingly heavy and the shock of tripping on a loose floorboard with one certainly hadn't been good for his health. "Man, I'm wrecked...And I've still gotta take a shower." He whined to no-one in particular and scratched the back of his head. In the distance, a bird cried. It was a foreign call to him. Maybe it was native to this area. Roxas shrugged and hoisted his achy frame up.

Dirty hands gripped the ladder sides tightly as he worked his way down onto the first floor of the large old house. The steps were practically vertical and if he leant back to far, down he went. He learnt that about two hours ago when he first made his way up into the dust factory.

As the blonde past his bedroom, he grabbed a towel from one of his luggage bags which had been mostly unpacked. He held it between his thumb and fingers gingerly, not wanting to get soot and dirt all over it. He **DID** have to dry himself with it after all.

A somewhat sadistic smirk grew on his face as he noticed he was leaving black footprints all over the _cream _carpet. '_Enjoy cleaning big bro'._ It was part of their deal. Roxas sorts out the attic and Cloud cleans the first floor. The grin grew as he trailed his free hand down the banister...and across to the bathroom door handle.

---

"Aaaah." A satisfied sigh escaped the lungs of a now squeaky-clean blonde. His hair shone now that there were no webs or dust clogging it up and his skin was not as pale as it would have appeared with the contrast of the black dirt. The towel hung around his neck was still warm from the radiator and he tilted his head back into it, warming his neck. His eyes which were lulled closed from the warmth suddenly snapped open as he remembered something. His brother's cell phone. And the place he had left it.

"Oh, please no..." his eyes glared at the opening in the roof and the dark, square hole merely looked blearily back at him. Grumbling to himself, he walked into his room, put some slippers on and hauled himself up those darned steps. After stumbling around a bit in the gloom, he managed to find the small gadget which had eluded him. Suddenly, out of the thick silence, that avian call repeated, but this time it seemed closer. "Huh?" his gaze flickered from the cell phone to the tall window which had yet to be closed and locked. Azure eyes focused on a dark shadow in motion. "The bird??" he asked to himself and he trotted to the window in earnest.

However, the shadow was not a bird...but in fact a bat. And it was headed in his direction! "OH SHIT!" he crossed his arms over his face as the creature came crashing through the opening. The creature gave an almighty screech and careered off into the attic corner before it fell silent. "What the hel--"

_SCREEEEEE!!_

Roxas whipped around just in time to see the bird which had been poking at his curiosity...and what a bird it was! It was huge! Bigger than any bird he'd ever encountered before. Its feathers where a pale chocolate with white-grey stripes. It was rapidly advancing in his direction and it didn't take a genius to figure this situation out. It was clearly after the bat and it looked pretty angry too. Roxas gripped the window handle. "Like hell!" he yelled at the...eagle? it gave an indignant cry and raced forwards.

And met the window face first.

Roxas didn't know whether to be amazed or amused, but that only lasted a fraction of a second as the bird recovered and began clawing and pecking the glass, effectively craving the glass slowly. Roxas locked the window, slammed the interior shutters but that didn't quiet the flying predator and its caws and screeches could still be heard clearly. He squeezed his eyes closed and tried to block out the noise. 'Disappear...' After a few minutes it ceased and he opened his eyes again and sighed in relief.

"Phew...Man that was scary!" he let out a puff of breath and lifted his eyes when he heard a weak scraping noise from where... "Oh god! The Bat!" he raced over to the dark corner and found the crash landed and previously lively animal. But it didn't really seem lively now. It kind of flapped its wings meekly before collapsing and writhing weakly. When he reached out to it, it hissed and flared its wings...well...wing. the right wings just twitched and it was then that it clicked. "Oh, you're injured?" he reached out and received another warning but he shushed the bat with gentle words. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. The pitiful thing couldn't even move an inch, so he picked it up gingerly and cradled it close to him as he inched down the ladders.

It was only when he was back in the pale glare of the hallway lamp that he realized the state of what he held in his arms. The bat's left arm was clearly broken and bleeding and the membrane of the wing was severely torn. Not to mention other minor cuts, and that he (Roxas somehow figured it was male) was shaking madly.

Removing the towel from around his neck, Roxas carefully wrapped it around the bat and quickly entered the bathroom and filling the bath with some warm water and antiseptic. He stepped back once the temperature was perfect. "We have to be quick with this or your wing will get infected." He whispered to the injured form before dipping him into the water, towel and all. Not even a squirm. Maybe a twitch. There definitely **was **a squirm when Roxas brushed the bloody wing with a soft cloth, a feral scream followed too. "Shh, it's okay," he cooed, eyes growing warm and gentle with pity "nearly, done now." The bat stopped thrashing and listened to the soft voice. Or so it seemed. He wiped off the last of the blood and retrieved a new towel from the basket beneath the sink and placed the soggy bat on it. "Wait there." He said, which was kind of stupid considering the poor thing couldn't move anyway. He left the bathroom momentarily.

----

'_Where am I?'_ A large eye cracked open and was met with a soft white.

'_Clouds? No...fabric'_ he mused as he nudged the towel with a wet black nose.

'_How did I get here?'_ He thought back as best as he could with the pain pulsing through his body. '_Oh, that's right. They sent someone after me but I got away and the next thing I know, Xigbar is chasing my ass halfway across the country. The fucker got me while I was resting and broke my wing.'_ He attempted to lift the said wing as if to confirm.

'_Yup, broken. That's going to take weeks maybe a month or so to heal. Anyway, birdbrain nearly got me but I got away somehow...oh! The window was open so I...then someone found me.' _He couldn't remember the face of who saved him even though it was probably only about a few minutes ago. The door to his right clicked open and his benefactor came into view. He stared wide eyed at the boy as he chattered to him soothingly. That voice was so soft and strong... and those eyes were so blue...the boy was an 'angel...'

---

"Aha! Here we go." He cheered as he pulled out some items he'd been hunting for: Cotton padding, bandages and a small wooden ruler. Roxas rushed off back to the wounded soldier, being extremely pleased to see the bat looking more lively. '_The warm water must have done him some good. Look at his fur!'_ Roxas chuckled at the sight. The fur on the back of the bats neck had dried slightly and was sticking up wildly. And the fact that the fur was a bright reddish colour made it all the funnier. "Well come here Spikey, we gotta get that wing sorted out." He said softly, hoping not to alarm the furry critter. As if responding, it turned towards him and looked at him with huge eyes. Roxas almost dropped what he was holding. "Whoa..." he gasped. Those eyes were so entrancing.

Such a bright shade of emerald.

CH2_Odd Critters

_WARNING...THIS FANFIC IS YAOI, WHICH MEANS BOYxBOY! DON'T LIKE? DONT READ! Though I would like to know how you got here._

_KEY: "speech" and 'thoughts' and *flashbacks*_

_---_

"Don't look at me like that!" Roxas whined. The bat just continued to glare 'or so it seemed' at the blonde boy. "It's for your own good, now quit it!" he sighed, carrying the creature up to his room. It wasn't his fault that the contraption on the furry things arm looked weird. It was the only way to get the wing bone to fix. The bat merely turned its nose away to inspect the odd looking bundle on its wing. The middle of it was wrapped tightly in bandages. Underneath which was a thick padding of cotton, and a ruler acting as a makeshift splint. It could be seen poking out at either end of the bandages as it was a little bigger than Roxas had anticipated. Needless to say, it did look pretty weird. It was very thick and probably too heavy for the emerald eyed bat to lift, even though he shouldn't be lifting it anyway.

Using his back since his hands were full of towel, bandages and bat, Roxas nudged his heavy bedroom door open. It had closed on its own when he had left the room last because it was a very old house after all and had none of those modern light hinges which would let the door stay still. Luckily Roxas had left the light on or he would have had to use his nose or chin or teeth or whatever and that didn't sound inviting at all. He stepped around a few of his yet-to-be-unpacked boxes, nudging them to the side with his knee to make a clear pathway between his doorway and his bed, which lucky for him was a very large four poster. Drapes and all.

"All right, let's get you fully dried little guy." He hummed and dived back into his towel bag to retrieve a small blue hand towel. "Don't need to use a big one on you. This'll do fine." Crouching down he began to scrub the rest of the still wet fur, drying it almost roughly. The small, concentrated smile that was on his face grew as he proceeded to dry his new friend, and once he had finished he burst out laughing. If one looked at the poor creature on the towel, it would look like the bat had been electrified. His fur was standing on end. "Man, you look like a hedgehog with wings." He chuckled, only to stop when Roxas received a angry snarl from the red furred animal. "Okay, okay I'm sorry." He shushed him gently. "Right so you need a place to sleep." Roxas scanned the room carefully, trying to find the perfect spot.

"Well we don't want you by the window. That feathered bastard might try and attack you again." He pondered slightly, not being able to decide. His wardrobe had yet to be filled with his many, many clothes and he knew there wouldn't be any room after that. His desk was littered with boxes. There was a large old chair in one corner of the room but it was made from solid ebony and didn't look comfortable at all. Not to mention it was a big room and the corner just seemed isolated. The ottoman at the opposite wall looked like an option, but then Cloud was probably going to put his linen and bed sheets in it. "I guess for now you're going to be sleeping on my pillow, Red." Roxas decided. Both on the sleeping place and new nickname of the thing which lay on his duvet. Said critter squawked indignantly at him, flailing a wing in a disagreeing manner. Whether it was at the name or the pillow, Roxas didn't know. "Hey, don't complain. Or I WILL put you by the window for Mr. Eagle to see you." He frowned. The bat quietened down, making a hiss which sounded like a huff. Roxas stared. He crouched down again, coming face to face with Red. "Call me crazy for asking this but...Can you understand me?" the bat just looked at him.

---

'What am I supposed to do? Outta the blue the kid asks me THAT? Did I really make it that obvious that I in fact DO understand this idiot? Yes, Idiot. What? He is! I mean, what the hell did he do to my wing? It looks like there's a freaking diaper strapped to it! And he keeps calling me 'little guy' and 'Red'. I'm no fucking pet kiddo.' He didn't know whether or not to snarl at the boy again, but he felt that it might give the blonde the wrong message. The kid WAS his savoir after all. Most people would probably just throw him out into their back garden claiming that "his family will come and get him" or just leave him to that dick Xigbar. But this blonde kid with his pretty blue eyes decided to look after him. 'I don't know if I should be happy or wary. Don't want him to be putting a collar or something on me next.' He watched as the boy sighed and stood up. 'I don't like being called Red. The others call me that.' The kid looked back at him and said "well, Red, I better finish unpacking these before Cloud gets home." Before he was hidden amongst boxes. 'But the way you say it. It's different.' He knew what he was talking about. It wasn't that he was instantly falling head-over-heels on love with this kid like in some cliché teen romance story. No, the way those fuckers back at headquarters called his name was completely different and he'd only noticed it now. He'd grown used to the name being filled with malice and sarcasm every time it had left a pair of lips. It was odd hearing it being called with a carefree and cheery tone to it. Red watched as box after box was unloaded at what seemed almost record time. He only realized then that the blonde was moving IN not out, as he had preordained. That worked to his advantage. Now he had a hideout.

---

"That's the last of these boxes done." Roxas sang as he placed one last T-shirt into his wardrobe. Stepping back, he brushed a strand of hair from his eye, running a hand through his now spiky hair as a reflex. "Only one more box to go." He said to himself and threw another empty box onto the large pile that was stacked around the old ebony chair. Roxas couldn't remember what was in the last box left on his desk. Picking it up, as it wasn't very big, he inspected it, only to realize what it was by the words MEMORIES scrawled onto the side in black marker. He removed the Sellotape which covered the opening of the box and peeled the flaps back. He smiled gently at the contents and picked them out one by one. After looking at each item for a while, he would place it down with the utmost care before moving onto the next. Each item was a carefully framed photograph, taken by the old camera which already lay on the large wooden desk. Some were of Roxas and a gang of friends. Others were of single people smiling at the camera. Roxas placed them out categorically on the surface, taking his time to make sure he had them lain out correctly. He placed them in a timeline effect, starting from when Roxas was very young and advancing up to present day. The only thing that remained the same in the photos was the little blonde boy with spiky hair.

From the bottom of the box, he produced the largest of the photos. It was clearly very old judging by the contents of the image and the state the image was in. It was crinkled and scratched as if it had been stuffed into many pockets. There were a few holes and slight rips around the edge as if it had been torn from a book or maybe pinned to a wall. Roxas stroked the glass which now covered the memory and placed it in the centre of the timeline, in front of all the other photo's clearly making this his favourite. The old metal frame was extravagant and looked out of place with all the others, but so was the photo itself. Roxas took another few minutes just looking at the photo when his guest made himself known again. He snapped out of his reverie of nostalgia and turned to smile at the bat. It was only then he realised that his chin was wet. "Huh?" touching his face gingerly, he followed the trail and found the source. His eyes. And he'd been crying. "Again Roxas? Pull yourself together, man." he chided himself, wiping his face roughly until it was dry. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed which Red was still wriggling on. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he clutched onto one of the large maroon drapes which hung loosely at the corners. Sighing again, he let himself be pulled back into the daze he'd been pulled out of.

Roxas forgot about the new house, the new town. Everything and went back to that fantastic day.

_*"Whoa! Do it again Cloud!!" a seven year old Roxas called. He positively beamed and his big brother couldn't help but be tempted into doing his 'magic trick' again. Pulling back, he lifted his sword and did a series of complicated steps, which Roxas thought was a dance. Cloud swung the sword around and let a blast of blue light burst from his weapon, it shooting across the little river which crossed near the bottom of their large garden. "YAY!" Roxas cheered, and danced up to his big brother, jumping at him. Used to this, Cloud caught Roxas and swung him up onto his shoulders, feeling small hands grip onto his hair. "Isn't he awesome Sora?" The mini blonde shouted to his twin who was now pelting down the garden after seeing Clouds performance. He tackled the blonde pair and sent them flying to the ground. Luckily the grass was shin high and very soft they landed with a muffled THUMP. "No fair!" Sora wailed. He hugged Clouds arm and wriggled excitedly. "I wasn't there. Do it again Cloud, please?" he looked up at his big brother with big sparkly eyes. Said brother laughed and stood up, dislodging a feisty and just as wriggling Roxas from his neck._

"_Okay. Just once more."_

"_Yay! We love you big bro." The twins said in unison._

_Cloud prepared himself again, gathering his focus before once again doing the difficult steps and then firing across the river. However the only thing that changed was a loud "WAGH!!" echoed from the bushes right next to the stream. Everyone stopped and looked curiously at the brunette who stepped out of the bushes looking shaken._

"_Dammit Cloud, you nearly hit me!" he cried. Cloud raised a brow amusedly, noting who it was._

"_And what were you doing in there anyway?" the twins rushed up to the brunette and tackled him. It was their favourite thing to do as of late._

"_Whoa! Hey Sora, hey Roxas. I was taking the usual shortcut." He stated as the little brothers greeted him heartily back. Stepping forwards, Cloud peeled the two monkeys from the other guy's chest, allowing him to breath. They swung happily from each of Clouds arms. The perfect embodiment of hyperactivity._

"_Oh. Well I would help you up but..." he mock-glared at the twins and they retreated under a tree squealing. Now with free hands, Cloud heaved the brunette to his feet and was pulled against the guy's chest in return. The twins cheered again._

"_Cloud and Leon, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" they sang, holding hands and doing the twin mirror thing that always creeped everyone out. Even Cloud. They received a glare from both men and they retreated even further back up the garden, giggling when Cloud did in fact receive a kiss from his boyfriend._

_After a while, Sora and Roxas joined the older couple in the grass and listened to them talk. everything was fine until Leon asked:_

"_So, what's happening with your uncle?"_

_Cloud glared at the grass between his fingers. _

"_He's sti--"_*

Roxas was knocked out of his memories by a sharp bark-like noise to his right. The bat looked extremely restless and it took a little while to shush it. "Sorry about that little guy. I sometimes just drift out of reality like that." He looked at the clock on his bedside table. He'd been reminiscing for at least over half an hour. It surprised him he'd thought maybe fifteen minutes at the most. The creature in his hands began to wriggle and bark again and Roxas couldn't tell why. He ran a few ideas through his head before coming up with a reasonable guess.

"You hungry. Red?" the bat stopped wriggling and glared at him. Confused, he picked up the bat and towel and put it under his arm carefully. This was made easier by the fact that when he bound the wing, he had pinned it close to the body for more support, so now the bat took up less room in his arms. He heaved the door open and held it open as he edged out of his room , being careful not to knock the fragile item in his grasp. He tottered downstairs in the same manner, wondering idly 'What exactly does a bat eat?'

Roxas shivered as the cold tiled flooring chilled his bare feet. He placed the towel on the table, glad that it was thick and wouldn't be affected by the cold wood.

"Okayyy, what have we got in the kitchen for you?" he said, a thoughtful ring to the voice. After being unsuccessful in any of the cupboards, Roxas went to the next logical option. The fridge. He opened it and sighed, realising that only the very basics were there. He remembered vaguely that some bats ate fruit and you could feed milk to young ones. Not knowing which type was lain on his kitchen table, Roxas removed both the Paupu fruit from the bottom of the fridge and the milk from the fridge door.

"I think I'll try you with the fruit first." He muttered to himself, pulling a knife from the drawer and cutting the soft fruit up into neat little pieces, taking a few for himself. Taking some of the smaller, juiciest pieces, Roxas approached Red and held out some fruit to the terrified looking creature. It sniffed gingerly before recoiling violently as if it had smelled the worst thing imaginable. "No? You don't want to try it?" Roxas sighed as he popped the unwanted fruit into his mouth. "Okay, I'll try you with milk. Wait a min, little guy." He said and crouched to a cupboard before returning with a steel pan. He slammed it on the stove with a CLANG, laughing at the jump he received from the emerald eyed Red.

After a few minutes, the milk was comfortably warm and he removed it from the stove. Roxas added some sugar to help the bat regain his energy. Whilst the milk cooled ever so slightly, he opened another box and rummaged around for a while before he reappeared with an enthusiastic "Aha! Here it is." He held up a small bottle, no bigger than a hand. A smaller version of a babies bottle, even though it looked just like one. "We used to look after lost baby Moogles when we lived in Destiny islands." He explained as Red's eyes seemed to grow large.

He poured the still pleasantly warm milk into the bottle and screwed the lid and teat on. Sitting down on one of the hard oak chairs, he pushed the bottles nose gently at Red's mouth. The bat sniffed again, tasted the milk and spat it out violently, making a bit of a mess. Luckily he was lying on a towel so Roxas didn't have any trouble cleaning it up. He was downhearted that the bat didn't want the milk either. There was nothing left to feed the creature. "Man, what am I going to do? What do you eat?" he clutched his head and looked to the sky. "If only you were like out of the books you know, and drank blood like the bats out of the Dracula stories..." Roxas trailed of and stopped. He glanced at the bat, hands still clutching his hair. He slowly let go of his locks.

---

'Oh Fuck. Oh, Fuck, Fuck, FUCK! This didn't even occur to me! But of course the kids gonna try and feed me' Red struggled with his thoughts all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He could hear the blonde talking to himself about what the feed him. He was even more horrified when the blue eyed boy pulled some strange looking fruit and some milk out the fridge. 'Oh god no. I'm no fruit bat kid. You're way of if you think I am. What the hell is that fruit anyway?' he mentally cried when the boy pushed t against his lips. He sniffed it, tasting it through his scent. He HATED it. To humans it would smell sweet and peachy but to a bat. HIS kind of bat it smelled sharp and overbearingly sickly. He couldn't help the natural reflex and recoil his batty body did. The kid seemed disheartened but not defeated and Red felt that he should at least try to get some of the milk down, no matter how much he hated it. Even the word 'Hate' was an understatement. He'd would nearly rather drink cyanide than milk. But the boy seemed so determined. So when the milk bottle was pushed against his lips, he sniffed reflexively, gagging as he did so but tried to swallow some milk. Failing miserably as he tried. His throat just shut down and reversed, coughing the milk right back up again. He was extremely pissed and embarrassed when the blonde boy wiped his mouth like a little baby and felt tempted to bite the kid. Once again he didn't because of the down look on his saviours face and he felt 'almost' guilty. Yeah, he was hungry. He was extremely hungry but he couldn't just...no it was impossible. 'Not to mention the fact that this kid thinks I'm a fruit bat or something.'

The words which left the blondes mouth made Red freeze.

"...And drank blood like the bats out of the Dracula stories..."

He felt the eyes of the boy on him and he panicked. 'Does he know? How? I didn't let anything slip did I? I've only been here a few hours so there's no way I could have!' he watched as the spiky blonde turned away from him and unscrewed the bottle lid. 'what are you doin' kid?' he watched in a mix of fear and...Something else he couldn't place, as the kid picked up the knife he'd used to cut the fruit. 'Shit! Don't kill me!' he frantically tried to wriggle backwards but the thick towel prevented him doing so. The boy advanced and sat back down, placing the bottle on the level table. He watched as the boy picked up the knife again and settled it in his hand comfortably. What made red almost pass out from was that the knife wasn't pointed at him, but at the blonde boy himself. More specifically his hand.

His bat-like ears twitched at the sound of metal on skin which was impossible for humans to hear. His nostrils flared slightly at the scent which struck him like a rhino and the smell, oh god did the blood smell good. Better than any he had before. His throat closed up and felt dry with want of the boys blood and something along the lines of joy and carnivorous want soared through him at the sight of those droplets as red as his fur dripping rhythmically into the warm milk. Red counted at least 10 drops in the milk and could smell the two liquids combining. His least favourite with his most favourite. The moment the bottle teat touched his lips, he latched on, his sharp canines sinking into the rubbery tip of the bottle to extract the now delicious food.

He probably let out a few whines as he drank but he really didn't give a shit. ''It tastes so damned good. How can an idiotic kid's blood taste so...heavenly?'

---

Roxas was surprised to say the least. He really didn't think that the bat would take to the experimental concoction he had just somewhat painfully whipped up. "Maybe you're a carnivorous bat. I heard there are such things" he mused as he watched Red try and devour the whole bottle in the process of getting the now pink milk. He laughed.

"You're just like a vampire."


	2. Chapter 2

CH2_Odd Critters

_WARNING...THIS FANFIC IS YAOI, WHICH MEANS BOYxBOY! DON'T LIKE? DONT READ! Though I would like to know how you got here._

_KEY: "speech" and 'thoughts' and *flashbacks*_

_---_

"Don't look at me like that!" Roxas whined. The bat just continued to glare 'or so it seemed' at the blonde boy. "It's for your own good, now quit it!" he sighed, carrying the creature up to his room. It wasn't his fault that the contraption on the furry things arm looked weird. It was the only way to get the wing bone to fix. The bat merely turned its nose away to inspect the odd looking bundle on its wing. The middle of it was wrapped tightly in bandages. Underneath which was a thick padding of cotton, and a ruler acting as a makeshift splint. It could be seen poking out at either end of the bandages as it was a little bigger than Roxas had anticipated. Needless to say, it did look pretty weird. It was very thick and probably too heavy for the emerald eyed bat to lift, even though he shouldn't be lifting it anyway.

Using his back since his hands were full of towel, bandages and bat, Roxas nudged his heavy bedroom door open. It had closed on its own when he had left the room last because it was a very old house after all and had none of those modern light hinges which would let the door stay still. Luckily Roxas had left the light on or he would have had to use his nose or chin or teeth or whatever and that didn't sound inviting at all. He stepped around a few of his yet-to-be-unpacked boxes, nudging them to the side with his knee to make a clear pathway between his doorway and his bed, which lucky for him was a very large four poster. Drapes and all.

"All right, let's get you fully dried little guy." He hummed and dived back into his towel bag to retrieve a small blue hand towel. "Don't need to use a big one on you. This'll do fine." Crouching down he began to scrub the rest of the still wet fur, drying it almost roughly. The small, concentrated smile that was on his face grew as he proceeded to dry his new friend, and once he had finished he burst out laughing. If one looked at the poor creature on the towel, it would look like the bat had been electrified. His fur was standing on end. "Man, you look like a hedgehog with wings." He chuckled, only to stop when Roxas received a angry snarl from the red furred animal. "Okay, okay I'm sorry." He shushed him gently. "Right so you need a place to sleep." Roxas scanned the room carefully, trying to find the perfect spot.

"Well we don't want you by the window. That feathered bastard might try and attack you again." He pondered slightly, not being able to decide. His wardrobe had yet to be filled with his many, many clothes and he knew there wouldn't be any room after that. His desk was littered with boxes. There was a large old chair in one corner of the room but it was made from solid ebony and didn't look comfortable at all. Not to mention it was a big room and the corner just seemed isolated. The ottoman at the opposite wall looked like an option, but then Cloud was probably going to put his linen and bed sheets in it. "I guess for now you're going to be sleeping on my pillow, Red." Roxas decided. Both on the sleeping place and new nickname of the thing which lay on his duvet. Said critter squawked indignantly at him, flailing a wing in a disagreeing manner. Whether it was at the name or the pillow, Roxas didn't know. "Hey, don't complain. Or I WILL put you by the window for Mr. Eagle to see you." He frowned. The bat quietened down, making a hiss which sounded like a huff. Roxas stared. He crouched down again, coming face to face with Red. "Call me crazy for asking this but...Can you understand me?" the bat just looked at him.

---

'What am I supposed to do? Outta the blue the kid asks me THAT? Did I really make it that obvious that I in fact DO understand this idiot? Yes, Idiot. What? He is! I mean, what the hell did he do to my wing? It looks like there's a freaking diaper strapped to it! And he keeps calling me 'little guy' and 'Red'. I'm no fucking pet kiddo.' He didn't know whether or not to snarl at the boy again, but he felt that it might give the blonde the wrong message. The kid WAS his savoir after all. Most people would probably just throw him out into their back garden claiming that "his family will come and get him" or just leave him to that dick Xigbar. But this blonde kid with his pretty blue eyes decided to look after him. 'I don't know if I should be happy or wary. Don't want him to be putting a collar or something on me next.' He watched as the boy sighed and stood up. 'I don't like being called Red. The others call me that.' The kid looked back at him and said "well, Red, I better finish unpacking these before Cloud gets home." Before he was hidden amongst boxes. 'But the way you say it. It's different.' He knew what he was talking about. It wasn't that he was instantly falling head-over-heels on love with this kid like in some cliché teen romance story. No, the way those fuckers back at headquarters called his name was completely different and he'd only noticed it now. He'd grown used to the name being filled with malice and sarcasm every time it had left a pair of lips. It was odd hearing it being called with a carefree and cheery tone to it. Red watched as box after box was unloaded at what seemed almost record time. He only realized then that the blonde was moving IN not out, as he had preordained. That worked to his advantage. Now he had a hideout.

---

"That's the last of these boxes done." Roxas sang as he placed one last T-shirt into his wardrobe. Stepping back, he brushed a strand of hair from his eye, running a hand through his now spiky hair as a reflex. "Only one more box to go." He said to himself and threw another empty box onto the large pile that was stacked around the old ebony chair. Roxas couldn't remember what was in the last box left on his desk. Picking it up, as it wasn't very big, he inspected it, only to realize what it was by the words MEMORIES scrawled onto the side in black marker. He removed the Sellotape which covered the opening of the box and peeled the flaps back. He smiled gently at the contents and picked them out one by one. After looking at each item for a while, he would place it down with the utmost care before moving onto the next. Each item was a carefully framed photograph, taken by the old camera which already lay on the large wooden desk. Some were of Roxas and a gang of friends. Others were of single people smiling at the camera. Roxas placed them out categorically on the surface, taking his time to make sure he had them lain out correctly. He placed them in a timeline effect, starting from when Roxas was very young and advancing up to present day. The only thing that remained the same in the photos was the little blonde boy with spiky hair.

From the bottom of the box, he produced the largest of the photos. It was clearly very old judging by the contents of the image and the state the image was in. It was crinkled and scratched as if it had been stuffed into many pockets. There were a few holes and slight rips around the edge as if it had been torn from a book or maybe pinned to a wall. Roxas stroked the glass which now covered the memory and placed it in the centre of the timeline, in front of all the other photo's clearly making this his favourite. The old metal frame was extravagant and looked out of place with all the others, but so was the photo itself. Roxas took another few minutes just looking at the photo when his guest made himself known again. He snapped out of his reverie of nostalgia and turned to smile at the bat. It was only then he realised that his chin was wet. "Huh?" touching his face gingerly, he followed the trail and found the source. His eyes. And he'd been crying. "Again Roxas? Pull yourself together, man." he chided himself, wiping his face roughly until it was dry. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed which Red was still wriggling on. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he clutched onto one of the large maroon drapes which hung loosely at the corners. Sighing again, he let himself be pulled back into the daze he'd been pulled out of.

Roxas forgot about the new house, the new town. Everything and went back to that fantastic day.

_*"Whoa! Do it again Cloud!!" a seven year old Roxas called. He positively beamed and his big brother couldn't help but be tempted into doing his 'magic trick' again. Pulling back, he lifted his sword and did a series of complicated steps, which Roxas thought was a dance. Cloud swung the sword around and let a blast of blue light burst from his weapon, it shooting across the little river which crossed near the bottom of their large garden. "YAY!" Roxas cheered, and danced up to his big brother, jumping at him. Used to this, Cloud caught Roxas and swung him up onto his shoulders, feeling small hands grip onto his hair. "Isn't he awesome Sora?" The mini blonde shouted to his twin who was now pelting down the garden after seeing Clouds performance. He tackled the blonde pair and sent them flying to the ground. Luckily the grass was shin high and very soft they landed with a muffled THUMP. "No fair!" Sora wailed. He hugged Clouds arm and wriggled excitedly. "I wasn't there. Do it again Cloud, please?" he looked up at his big brother with big sparkly eyes. Said brother laughed and stood up, dislodging a feisty and just as wriggling Roxas from his neck._

"_Okay. Just once more."_

"_Yay! We love you big bro." The twins said in unison._

_Cloud prepared himself again, gathering his focus before once again doing the difficult steps and then firing across the river. However the only thing that changed was a loud "WAGH!!" echoed from the bushes right next to the stream. Everyone stopped and looked curiously at the brunette who stepped out of the bushes looking shaken._

"_Dammit Cloud, you nearly hit me!" he cried. Cloud raised a brow amusedly, noting who it was._

"_And what were you doing in there anyway?" the twins rushed up to the brunette and tackled him. It was their favourite thing to do as of late._

"_Whoa! Hey Sora, hey Roxas. I was taking the usual shortcut." He stated as the little brothers greeted him heartily back. Stepping forwards, Cloud peeled the two monkeys from the other guy's chest, allowing him to breath. They swung happily from each of Clouds arms. The perfect embodiment of hyperactivity._

"_Oh. Well I would help you up but..." he mock-glared at the twins and they retreated under a tree squealing. Now with free hands, Cloud heaved the brunette to his feet and was pulled against the guy's chest in return. The twins cheered again._

"_Cloud and Leon, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" they sang, holding hands and doing the twin mirror thing that always creeped everyone out. Even Cloud. They received a glare from both men and they retreated even further back up the garden, giggling when Cloud did in fact receive a kiss from his boyfriend._

_After a while, Sora and Roxas joined the older couple in the grass and listened to them talk. everything was fine until Leon asked:_

"_So, what's happening with your uncle?"_

_Cloud glared at the grass between his fingers. _

"_He's sti--"_*

Roxas was knocked out of his memories by a sharp bark-like noise to his right. The bat looked extremely restless and it took a little while to shush it. "Sorry about that little guy. I sometimes just drift out of reality like that." He looked at the clock on his bedside table. He'd been reminiscing for at least over half an hour. It surprised him he'd thought maybe fifteen minutes at the most. The creature in his hands began to wriggle and bark again and Roxas couldn't tell why. He ran a few ideas through his head before coming up with a reasonable guess.

"You hungry. Red?" the bat stopped wriggling and glared at him. Confused, he picked up the bat and towel and put it under his arm carefully. This was made easier by the fact that when he bound the wing, he had pinned it close to the body for more support, so now the bat took up less room in his arms. He heaved the door open and held it open as he edged out of his room , being careful not to knock the fragile item in his grasp. He tottered downstairs in the same manner, wondering idly 'What exactly does a bat eat?'

Roxas shivered as the cold tiled flooring chilled his bare feet. He placed the towel on the table, glad that it was thick and wouldn't be affected by the cold wood.

"Okayyy, what have we got in the kitchen for you?" he said, a thoughtful ring to the voice. After being unsuccessful in any of the cupboards, Roxas went to the next logical option. The fridge. He opened it and sighed, realising that only the very basics were there. He remembered vaguely that some bats ate fruit and you could feed milk to young ones. Not knowing which type was lain on his kitchen table, Roxas removed both the Paupu fruit from the bottom of the fridge and the milk from the fridge door.

"I think I'll try you with the fruit first." He muttered to himself, pulling a knife from the drawer and cutting the soft fruit up into neat little pieces, taking a few for himself. Taking some of the smaller, juiciest pieces, Roxas approached Red and held out some fruit to the terrified looking creature. It sniffed gingerly before recoiling violently as if it had smelled the worst thing imaginable. "No? You don't want to try it?" Roxas sighed as he popped the unwanted fruit into his mouth. "Okay, I'll try you with milk. Wait a min, little guy." He said and crouched to a cupboard before returning with a steel pan. He slammed it on the stove with a CLANG, laughing at the jump he received from the emerald eyed Red.

After a few minutes, the milk was comfortably warm and he removed it from the stove. Roxas added some sugar to help the bat regain his energy. Whilst the milk cooled ever so slightly, he opened another box and rummaged around for a while before he reappeared with an enthusiastic "Aha! Here it is." He held up a small bottle, no bigger than a hand. A smaller version of a babies bottle, even though it looked just like one. "We used to look after lost baby Moogles when we lived in Destiny islands." He explained as Red's eyes seemed to grow large.

He poured the still pleasantly warm milk into the bottle and screwed the lid and teat on. Sitting down on one of the hard oak chairs, he pushed the bottles nose gently at Red's mouth. The bat sniffed again, tasted the milk and spat it out violently, making a bit of a mess. Luckily he was lying on a towel so Roxas didn't have any trouble cleaning it up. He was downhearted that the bat didn't want the milk either. There was nothing left to feed the creature. "Man, what am I going to do? What do you eat?" he clutched his head and looked to the sky. "If only you were like out of the books you know, and drank blood like the bats out of the Dracula stories..." Roxas trailed of and stopped. He glanced at the bat, hands still clutching his hair. He slowly let go of his locks.

---

'Oh Fuck. Oh, Fuck, Fuck, FUCK! This didn't even occur to me! But of course the kids gonna try and feed me' Red struggled with his thoughts all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He could hear the blonde talking to himself about what the feed him. He was even more horrified when the blue eyed boy pulled some strange looking fruit and some milk out the fridge. 'Oh god no. I'm no fruit bat kid. You're way of if you think I am. What the hell is that fruit anyway?' he mentally cried when the boy pushed t against his lips. He sniffed it, tasting it through his scent. He HATED it. To humans it would smell sweet and peachy but to a bat. HIS kind of bat it smelled sharp and overbearingly sickly. He couldn't help the natural reflex and recoil his batty body did. The kid seemed disheartened but not defeated and Red felt that he should at least try to get some of the milk down, no matter how much he hated it. Even the word 'Hate' was an understatement. He'd would nearly rather drink cyanide than milk. But the boy seemed so determined. So when the milk bottle was pushed against his lips, he sniffed reflexively, gagging as he did so but tried to swallow some milk. Failing miserably as he tried. His throat just shut down and reversed, coughing the milk right back up again. He was extremely pissed and embarrassed when the blonde boy wiped his mouth like a little baby and felt tempted to bite the kid. Once again he didn't because of the down look on his saviours face and he felt 'almost' guilty. Yeah, he was hungry. He was extremely hungry but he couldn't just...no it was impossible. 'Not to mention the fact that this kid thinks I'm a fruit bat or something.'

The words which left the blondes mouth made Red freeze.

"...And drank blood like the bats out of the Dracula stories..."

He felt the eyes of the boy on him and he panicked. 'Does he know? How? I didn't let anything slip did I? I've only been here a few hours so there's no way I could have!' he watched as the spiky blonde turned away from him and unscrewed the bottle lid. 'what are you doin' kid?' he watched in a mix of fear and...Something else he couldn't place, as the kid picked up the knife he'd used to cut the fruit. 'Shit! Don't kill me!' he frantically tried to wriggle backwards but the thick towel prevented him doing so. The boy advanced and sat back down, placing the bottle on the level table. He watched as the boy picked up the knife again and settled it in his hand comfortably. What made red almost pass out from was that the knife wasn't pointed at him, but at the blonde boy himself. More specifically his hand.

His bat-like ears twitched at the sound of metal on skin which was impossible for humans to hear. His nostrils flared slightly at the scent which struck him like a rhino and the smell, oh god did the blood smell good. Better than any he had before. His throat closed up and felt dry with want of the boys blood and something along the lines of joy and carnivorous want soared through him at the sight of those droplets as red as his fur dripping rhythmically into the warm milk. Red counted at least 10 drops in the milk and could smell the two liquids combining. His least favourite with his most favourite. The moment the bottle teat touched his lips, he latched on, his sharp canines sinking into the rubbery tip of the bottle to extract the now delicious food.

He probably let out a few whines as he drank but he really didn't give a shit. ''It tastes so damned good. How can an idiotic kid's blood taste so...heavenly?'

---

Roxas was surprised to say the least. He really didn't think that the bat would take to the experimental concoction he had just somewhat painfully whipped up. "Maybe you're a carnivorous bat. I heard there are such things" he mused as he watched Red try and devour the whole bottle in the process of getting the now pink milk. He laughed.

"You're just like a vampire."


End file.
